Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Acquires 29,500 Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. $BXMT

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) by 61.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,500 shares during the quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust were worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $1,588,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter valued at $1,080,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at about $650,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.4% in the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,078,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,769,000 after acquiring an additional 45,871 shares during the period. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 3.8% in the second quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 177,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,422,000 after acquiring an additional 6,538 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT opened at $20.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.15. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.51 and a 1-year high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $132.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.56 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 4.06% and a net margin of 7.53%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 303.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.33.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.